Promise Seen in New Biofuel Process

Potential for a variety of second generation biofuels.

Jan 23, 2008

Diversified Energy Corporation demonstrated a process they've coined Centia that takes renewable oil - both plant and animal - and converts it directly into a "bio-gasoline fuel very similar to traditional unleaded gasoline." The process it used was developed by scientists at North CarolinaStateUniversity. Starting with an input mimicking what would have originated as soybean oil, the process generated a fuel closely resembling the carbon number profile and molecular composition of unleaded gasoline. Mass conversion efficiency in excess of 90% was achieved. Further development, optimization, and testing activities are being planned, including an end-to end Centia system demonstration to make bio-gasoline, Jet A-1/JP-8 (jet fuel) and renewable diesel.

Henry Lamb, NCSU Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and lead investigator on the bio-gasoline work, remarked, "The team is extremely encouraged with the bio-gasoline results generated to date. With over 243 million vehicles on U.S. roads (with a majority using gasoline), finding an affordable renewable drop-in replacement would be a major achievement. While additional development work is still required, these results emphasize the potential of Centia to produce a variety of second generation biofuels."